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Comment by pinkywomen on December 1, 2010 at 7:08am

Thanks Tony for sharing. I know for a fact I do not drink enough water each day. I can go hours and hours with out drinking. And I thought this was good, before getting my sugar down where they are, I drank all the time. I will work on getting my water in. Thanks

Comment by Tony S. on November 30, 2010 at 6:52pm

Hi, pinkywomen.

You know, when I started Byetta I thought all my troubles were over. Magic, right? Nope. Wrong. Byetta helps me not eat so much and perhaps helps my body accept insulin, but I still had to follow all the other rules for diabetics. Here's my story:

Everyone is different but my a.m. BS numbers were high until I made a few "lifestyle" [hate that word!] modifications. This is what worked for me:

1) Drinking 8 to 10 glasses of water per day --- I'm no M.D., but when I wake up fiercely thirsty, I just know my numbers are going to be high.
2) Getting more sleep. I used to cruise on 5 to 6 hours per night, but that's not enough time for the numbers to come down to a more normal range. I couldn't believe it when I slept for almost 8 hours and woke up with numbers like a non-diabetic.
3. Also, by staying up late, I was starting to get hungry again at about 11 p.m. By cutting off the late-night snacking by getting to bed earlier, my a.m. numbers have come down, especially my HgA1c numbers. I notice you eat early. Byetta supposedly acts for less than 6 hours. It's already worn off, perhaps, by your bedtime.

Again, this is what worked for me, an ex- night-owl. I really hope some of this helps you. Best of luck and be patient and kind with yourself.

Comment by pinkywomen on November 30, 2010 at 1:24pm

I started on byetta nearly a week ago. If I take my last dose (5:oo pm) before dinner, is going to carry through the night. I have not been able to get my morning bs downk, I hit at about 200 each morning. I also take 1500 mg of metformin and 4mg of glimpride before bed and anoth 4mg of glimpridge in the morning. I am not having any side effect at the 5mg.

Comment by Jani on November 2, 2010 at 5:49pm

Been on Byetta for a year now with insulin resistance, constant hunger, and now hair is falling out and finger nails are peeling so badly they nail itself is lower than I can trim anymore. PCP and Endo keep blowing me off about the haif loss and nail thing, but it's really starting to bother me. I had lost 18 lbs. on current meds blend, which included HRT. Then they changed my HRT to a different kind, and that's when the constant hunger started, and I've gained back 10 lbs in 2 months, retaining lots of fluid, high blood pressure in just two months. not sure if byetta causes the fluid retention which causes the high blood pressure, or if byette is the culprit for the hair loss and nail damage. anyone out there with similar sypmtoms?

Comment by Samantha on March 28, 2010 at 8:22am

Hi, I am not a byetta user but just started Victoza. There are not a lot of people on Tu that seem to be using Victoza and since both meds work the same way I thought I might be able to gleen a little knowledge on side effects and experience.

Comment by Christalyn on November 22, 2009 at 2:28am

Is it common to use Byetta with an Insulin injection? I went to my Endo and she has started me on this Insulin pen once in the morning. I am to continue with the other cocktail of meds as normal.

Are there any reports about using Byetta with Insulin. I am just wondering?? Thanks!

Comment by Tony S. on November 14, 2009 at 1:54pm

The Eli Lily rep who taight the Byetta classes I attended said not to worry about the air bubble. It does rise to the top when the pen is held vertically, needle down, and poses not problem.

The only trouble I've had with the pen is several drops of the drug coming out of the needle after I've injected and turned the dial. The phone support person said that I hadn't received the full dose and suggested holding the pen vertically and for the correct amount of time, counting very slowly to five.

Comment by Christalyn on November 13, 2009 at 4:45am

hello, has anybody have any problems with the byetta pen? Not the medication but the delivery unit? I noticed yesterday that my pen had about an air bubble the size of a centimeter in it. I brought it to the pharmacy and the just told me to position the pen vertical and use it. I was able to "pump" the air out. I am not sure if I am still getting the proper dose.....


has this happen to anybody and what did you do? Were you able to get new pen?

THanks!

Comment by JerryInPDX on September 24, 2009 at 9:52am

I have been doing a before bed snack (take my metformin at that point too) it seems to help, maybe on adverage about 20 points lower in the am. I typically do almonds or some high fiber toast with almond butter (takes a lot of water to wash that down :) I think im pretty good on protein in general, I make sure its a regular star in all of my meals as well as adding whey protein supps 30g before and 60g after my daily workouts. My doc recommended i set my alarm for a 1-2am snack, but just cant get my head around that, i dont think i get enough sleep as it is.

Comment by Tony S. on September 24, 2009 at 9:30am

Hi, Sarah.

Something you might consider discussing with your endo:

I'm currently under a lot of stress, with a family health crisis [my Dad's just going into hospice next week, after 2 weeks in the ICU and 8 years of severely and steadily declining health]. I found myself nervous-eating again, Byetta or not, in response to this crisis.

My numbers just shot up again, so my M.D. put me on Byetta THREE (3) times a day. That's pulled the a.m. numbers down under 200. [I'm hoping that the 3X shot routine is temporary; bit hard to work into my crazy schedule. [I haven't been on a regular eating schedule, with trips to the hospital and chauffeuring my mom around, trying to rush thru work every day, etc.]

Also, my diabetes educator said that snacks during the day are important and especially important to have a small, low-cal bedtime snack that contains some protein. The system might think it needs to retain glucose because it is starving, is the thinking I believe. I've read a lot of comments from people on these blogs about problems from not eating enough protein. There's something definitely there.

We obviously all have different bodies with different metabolisms. Perhaps we all don't fit the perfect brochure-photo, Byetta-user profile. I firmly believe that we are the most important member of our own health team and we have to educate ourselves and manage our own diabetes on an on-going basis. It's your time, as my endo always tells me.

Wishing you and everyone who reads this so much good luck and hope. And hope you'll find the key to getting those numbers down

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